The A Priori in Philosophy

Edited by Albert Casullo and Joshua C. Thurow

Description

For much of the past two millennia philosophers have embraced a priori knowledge and have thought that the a priori plays an important role in philosophy itself. Philosophers from Plato to Descartes, Kant to Kripke, all endorse the a priori and engage in a priori reasoning in their philosophical discussions. Recent work in epistemology and experimental philosophy, however, has raised questions about both the existence of a priori knowledge and the centrality of the a priori for philosophy. This collection of essays aims to advance the discussion of the a priori and its role in philosophy by addressing four issues. The first is whether intuitions provide evidence for philosophical propositions, whether that evidence is a priori, and whether the results of experimental
philosophy affect the evidential and a priori status of intuitions. The second is whether there are explanations of the a priori and what range of propositions can be justified and known a priori. The third is whether a priori justified beliefs are needed in order to avoid some skeptical worries. The fourth is whether certain recent challenges to the existence or significance of the a priori are successful. The contributors include a mix of young and established philosophers, including some of the most prominent voices in philosophy today.

The A Priori in Philosophy

Edited by Albert Casullo and Joshua C. Thurow

Table of Contents

Introduction, Joshua C. Thurow and Albert CasulloSection I: Intuitions, Experimental Philosophy, and the A Priori 1. Philosophical Naturalism and Intuitional Methodology, Alvin I. Goldman2. Experimental Philosophy and Apriority, Jonathan Jenkins Ichikawa3. The Implicit Conception and Intuition Theory of the a Priori, with Implications for Experimental Philosophy, Joshua C. Thurow4. The Prospects for an Experimentalist Rationalism, or Why It's Ok if the A Priori Is Only 99.44 Percent Empirically Pure, Jonathan M. WeinbergSection II: The Nature and Scope of the A Priori 5. On the Armchair Justification of Conceptually Grounded Necessary Truths, David Henderson and Terry Horgan6. Concepts, Teleology, and Rational Revision,
Christopher S. Hill7. A Priori Testimony Revisited, Anna-Sara Malmgren8. Intuitions and Foundations: The Relevance of Moore and Wittgenstein, Ernest SosaSection III: Skepticism and the A Priori 9. Skepticism, Reason and Reidianism, Joel Pust10. A Priori Bootstrapping, Ralph WedgwoodSection IV: Challenges to the A Priori 11. Articulating the A Priori - A Posteriori Distinction, Albert Casullo12. Naturalistic Challenges to the A Priori, C. S. I. Jenkins13. How Deep is the Distinction between A Priori and A Posteriori Knowledge?, Timothy Williamson

The A Priori in Philosophy

Edited by Albert Casullo and Joshua C. Thurow

Author Information

Albert Casullo is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. A well-known expert on the a priori, Casullo is the author of A Priori Justification (OUP, 2003), and Essays on A Priori Knowledge and Justification (OUP, 2012).

Joshua C. Thurow is Assistant Professor of Philosophy at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He previously taught at Mount Marty College (South Dakota) and has published essays on the a priori and other issues in epistemology in various journals and edited volumes.

Contributors:

Albert Casullo, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Alvin I. Goldman, Rutgers UniversityDavid Henderson, University of Nebraska-LincolnChristopher S. Hill, Brown UniversityTerry Horgan, University of ArizonaJonathan Jenkins Ichikawa, University of British ColumbiaC. S. I. Jenkins, University of British Columbia/University of AberdeenAnna-Sara Malmgren, Stanford UniversityJoel Pust, University of DelawareErnest Sosa, Rutgers UniversityJoshua C. Thurow, University of Texas at San AntonioRalph Wedgwood, University of Southern CaliforniaJonathan M. Weinberg, University of ArizonaTimothy Williamson, University of Oxford